Brian Druker, M.D., Director OHSU Knight Cancer Institute

Brian Druker, MD, is the director of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute, associate dean for oncology of the OHSU School of Medicine and the JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research. His research is focused on translating the knowledge of the molecular pathogenesis of cancer into specific therapies and investigating the optimal use of these molecularly targeted agents. He performed preclinical studies that led to the development of imatinib (Gleevec) for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and then spearheaded the highly successful clinical trials of imatinib, which led to FDA approval of the drug in record time. This work changed the life expectancy of patients with CML from an average of 3 to 5 years to a 95% five-year survival, and has resulted in a paradigm-shift in cancer treatment from non-specific chemotherapy to highly targeted therapeutic agents. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences and, among numerous awards, is the recipient of the 2009 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, the 2012 Japan Prize in Healthcare and Medical Technology and the 2019 Sjöberg Prize.